A management system typically includes a management server and multiple computers or computing devices. Computing devices may also be known as client computers or clients. The management server can receive performance information from the clients. Examples of performance data include utilization as to resources resident at a client, such as a client processor, client memory, client disk storage, etc. Furthermore, performance information is also provided as to certain services, such as network interconnections between the client and management server.
Each client can implement a management agent to gather and process data received from various sources and particularly sources local to the client. The processed data is provided as performance information to the management server An example of a local source is an instrumentation module run by a client operating system. Data from sources are sent to the management agent for processing.
When data is received by the management agent, the data is analyzed or filtered as to a particular data type. Filtered data is sent to a sequence of processes defined as a workflow. Each particular data type is processed using a specific workflow. In other words, a workflow is specific to a particular data type. Processed data may be reanalyzed or filtered again, and reprocessed using either the same workflow or a different workflow.
In many instances, it is desirable to support new data types to allow different tasks to be performed. For example, it may be desirable to monitor a new or different source that provides a different data type. A management agent is limited to a number of data types based on the number of workflows available at the management agent. In order to support new or different data types, new or different workflows are needed. Because workflows can include complex processes strung together, it can be a significant modification to a management agent when new or different workflows are added. In other words, workflows are not necessarily extensible to support different data types. Furthermore, since existing workflows can include complex strings of processes, it can be a significant undertaking to change, modify, and/or maintain the existing workflows.